


Settle Down

by toodeepinthatfanzone



Series: Up and Down [3]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Enemies, Light Angst, Time Travel, a lot of magic stuff, alternative universes, magical powers, mentioning of death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-17
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-05-24 14:00:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14955986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toodeepinthatfanzone/pseuds/toodeepinthatfanzone
Summary: Emelia Adele Agreste never knew she had something special about her.She is clever and sporty, has a perfect family and a lot of friends.But there is one thing she didn't know about yet and it all starts with a weird dream and a strange man, revealing things about herself that have the power to rip the world they live in apart.-Sequel to Hooked Up-*Currently on hiatus, work only visible for registered users





	1. Chapter 1

Adrien loved his daughter with all of his heart.

Ever since the first moment, he held her in his arms. Small little Emma, with big eyes and soft chubby fingers, stole his heart even though she didn’t do anything special yet.

He remembered her first step without any help and of course he would remember her first word, which was an unclear ‘papa’ but at least it was something.

When she was three, Emma could solve her first puzzles and with five she was able to read and write simple words or sentences. She was a little genius, skipping CE1 in favour of her great learning skills.

Adrien watched her grow up with a passion for mathematics and science, winning several contests in all of France with her weird working brain. After passing the first big exam at the end of collége with one of the highest scores of the country, Emma entered into her father’s lycée and was able to skip yet another grade. He was proud that she was able to finish school in the sweet age of sixteen but… at what costs?

Adrien tapped his foot against the floor as he waited for his fiancée to answer her phone and it was only seconds later that her voice spoke through the speaker.

“Sorry, Adrien, I was on the toilet and didn’t hear the ringing the first three times you called.”, she mused and he could hear her sitting down in her office chair, “Something wrong?”

“It’s about Emma.” He pinched his glasses back and rubbed the bridge of his nose, “Mari, would you mind going to the grocery store today? Because I don’t know how long I still have to stay at work.”

Marinette groaned loudly. “What did she do today?”

“I am not one hundred percent sure yet but apparently she hacked the school system.”

“What!?” Marinette exclaimed and she probably kicked something off her desk by the sound of clattering, “How was she able to hack the school system? I didn’t teach her that!”

“Me neither.” Adrien sighed and looked over his shoulder to the closed door of the principal's office. “She most likely looked it up on YouTube.”

Marinette swore under her breath and Adrien had to hide a small grin. She mumbled something about shutting the wifi off for a week before Adrien got interrupted. The door behind him had opened and monsieur Roux’s bald head appeared in the hallway. He motioned to Adrien to follow him inside.

“I need to go, see you later. I love you, my Lady.” He put his phone into the pocket of his pants and followed the man inside. “Sorry, I had to inform my fiancée about the incident.”

“I understand, sit down please.” Adrien nodded and moved towards his boss’ desk. It was scary how often he actually had to enter this room because of Emma. Usually, it was because of good things: her having achieved another high score in a national contest, talks about skipping years and early graduation, but there were multiple not so good cases too.

Adrien settled down in a chair and looked over to his daughter. She had grown up nicely, with long dark brunette hair and light freckles that only appear in strong sunlight. The only thing she visibly shared with her mother was her nose. This was his Emma, his baby and he caught himself having trouble accepting that she wouldn’t stay a child forever.

Monsieur Roux cleared his throat. “This is the third time in less than six months that Emelia broke a school rule. I can not tolerate this behavior any longer. One more violation like that I have to seriously think about not allowing you to write your end years examination.”

“No!” Emma protested and sat straight up. “No way! I am not doing this year again, I am one of France best students!”

“To finish school at the age of sixteen is a privilege.” the principal said and Adrien decided to use that to interrupt the conversation.

“What exactly happened?” Monsieur Roux intensity stared at Emma but she didn’t move one bit after folding her arms, angrily pouting.

The older man took a deep breath. “Madame Chariot's class was working on a project in our computer room today and  _ someone  _ hacked my computer in this office here from there. Luckily, we have a very special system which immediately shuts down the technical devices in the whole school during a cyber attack.” He raised an eyebrow. “We could identify the attacker in the end.”

“Is this true?” Adrien asked and turned to look at Emma, “Why would you do something like that?”

“I just wanted to help my friend Tina. She’s a vegetarian but the school doesn’t offer vegetarian meals so I wanted to do edit the eating plan.” Emma then confessed and shrugged, letting herself slip deeper into the chair.

Adrien groaned as he pushed his hair back. “Emmy, you could have talked to us teachers and we could have discussed the topic. Or you could have informed your class president. You can’t just take things into your own hands.”

“Course I can. I just wanted to help.”

“Well, ‘just wanting to help’ might get you expelled.” Monsieur Roux warned and he met Emelia’s eyes in a cold staring contest.

“I don’t think it has to go this far.” Adrien said after a few seconds, “The year ends in a few months and we shouldn’t make any rash decisions. I’ll talk to Emelia again and surely we will be able to spend the last part of this school year in peace. Now, have a good day.” He stood up and nodded towards his boss and then did a similar move to his daughter. She rolled her eyes as she followed him outside. “You gonna get me fired someday.”

 

* * *

 

 

“She’s gonna get you fired someday.” Marinette sighed and put her coffee down. Adrien hummed, not taking his focus from his laptop. Music blasted through the apartment as Emma let out her annoyance in her bedroom. “Remember how I said I want to make sure Emma stays as caring and sharing as possible? Yeah, I think we overdid it.”

“It’s not your fault, Mari.” Adrien said and finished work, “I think it could have been worse than having a teenager who hacks into school systems to help her vegetarian friend.”

“Like having a teenager who sneaks out at night to do superhero stuff?”

“Eh… maybe.”

Marinette stood up and pulled out a box of cigarettes from her bag, then opened the door to the balcony. “At least she’s not doing drugs.”

She was fastly followed by her fiancee who didn’t look impressed as she actually lit one. “Didn’t we talk about stopping smoking three months ago?”

“I am trying to stop, really! But Chloé and Nathaniel have been terrible influencers, at least Alya stopped, and there are so many things happening right now. My best friend is eight months pregnant and has all kind of weird emotions,” - she started to count, using her fingers - “Emma is about to ruin her graduation, the wedding is in less than ten days and I still couldn’t find anyone to take my place at work while being away and-”

“Marinette.” Adrien breathed and took the cigarette from between her fingers, throwing it off their balcony with a swift motion, “I know that there is a lot going on. But just some more days and we will be married. All this stress is going to fall off your shoulders, I promise. And… don’t worry about Emma. She is sixteen-years-old, remember how rebellious we were in that age.”

“We were Ladybug and Chat Noir, that is a different story.” she sighed as she leaned forward, forehead resting against Adrien’s shoulders as he chuckled. They stood like that for multiple minutes. “Do you think we should tell her? It’s been such a long time without anything happening…”

“After the honeymoon. I guess it is safe to tell her but we need to make things sure with Tikki and Plagg first. Besides, we wanted to invite Fu anywa-”

“Maman, Papa? I’ll be out with friends, see you later!” Emma shortly peaked through the open balcony doors and waved, then disappeared.

“Aren’t you grounded, young lady?” Marinette called but the only answer she got was the slamming of the front door and she groaned loudly. “Being a parent, they said, it’s the best thing in the world, they said.”

Adrien chuckled and followed her inside.

 

* * *

 

Emma had been to multiple weddings in her still short life. It was always nice to see two people intertwine their futures. She remembered being a flower child at her aunt Alya’s wedding when she was still in primary school and how fun it was to throw stuff around while walking down the aisle.

Her parents had already been together for so long, that they only decided on a small ceremony at the city hall with close friends and colleagues and family. It wasn’t fancy even though they definitely would have had the money for a bigger event. Of course, Emma knew about how her mother and father eventually started dating in the first place and why they took so long to get engaged. They wanted to finish university and find jobs before making the big decision of marriage.

Grandma Sabine was full on in tears by the time the ceremony was finished with a quick kiss and grandpa Tom was barely able to hold his own in too. The only person that probably didn’t share one tear was grandpa Gabriel who tried to hold a straight face. Still, she knew he was soft on his inside anyway. 

“Emma, your dress looks incredibly nice.” Nathaniel appeared and sneaked a glass of champagne into the girl’s hands, lifting his pointer fingers to his lips in a shushing gesture. Emma smirked and bumped her glass to his.

“Of course her dress looks nice!” Chloé now decided to take part in the conversation. “It’s one of your mom’s design, right? Oh and you’re wearing heels, so grown up.”

“I remember holding her in my arms when she was a baby.” Alya said and draped her arm around her goddaughter's neck, “And now she secretly drinking alcohol.”

Nino arrived and smiled brightly at his pregnant wife. “Sixteen more years and we are going to have a similar problem, honey.”

“What problem?” Marinette asked as their circle of friends were finally completed with the arrival of the freshly married couple. She looked up at her husband and he smiled, then nodded towards his daughter.

“Not more than three glasses, understood?” Emma rolled her eyes at her failed attempt to hide the champagne behind her back. “This is a special occasion. I keep an eye on you Nathaniel, do not smuggle alcohol in my child’s life.”

“Papa.” Groaned Emelia and Chloé sympathy patted her back.

The blonde leaned closer to the younger girl. “Your father had always been a party pooper. He doesn’t allow you to drink since he his a pretty lightweight himself.” Chloé whispered, earning a warning hiss from her childhood friend.

“So, who wants a piece of cake?” Tom called from the back of the room, proudly presenting his self-made wedding cake and Marinette started to tear up.

“It’s so beautiful! Thank you so much, Maman and Papa.” she cried and stepped out if their group to hug her parents. Adrien was fastly on her heels and Alya frowned at the bomb of calories but just shrugged. Everyone slowly made their across the room.

Emma smiled at the scene. She loved her parents so much and it that moment she made the decision to stop complaining about school and focus on her graduation, just to make them happy. In the end, it was them who made her so clever and smart, being one of France best students currently.

Something was moving in the corner of her eye and Emma turned her head fastly but the only thing she saw was an open window, presenting the bright sunshine outside. She narrowed her eyes. “I could swear there was something.”

“Emelia, C'mon, the cake tastes perfect!”

After another few seconds of keeping her gaze fixed to the sky, she finally turned away. “On my way, Maman.”

 

* * *

 

“Passport?”

“Got it!”

“Plane tickets?”

“In my bag.”

“What about your wallet?”

“Marinette.” Adrien chuckled as he held up the old leather wallet, “We checked everything twice, I’m pretty sure we got all the important things.”

Emma raised her eyes from her phone to take a look at her parents standing in the middle of their living room, then she continued to scratch her cat behind her ears.

“There is still the feeling that we forgot something.” her mother mumbled to herself.

“If we remember it then we just buy it at the airport but we really need to leave now, Cherie.”

“I know, I know.” Marinette pinched the bridge of her nose and then turned to her daughter. “You will be alright while we are away?”

“Sure thing, Maman,” Emma answered and turned her phone off. It was the first time that she and her parents would be separated for a longer amount than seven days but when they had asked her to join them during their honeymoon, Emma hadn’t really been into the idea of spending all day every day with her sickening parents at a fancy hotel.

“There is enough food in the fridge.” her mother said and looked at her husband for a second, “You should still have enough money on your bank account too if you want to hang out with friends, no parties in our house though. The bakery is always open for you, so is aunty Alya’s home.”

Emma stood up. “We went over this yesterday, remember?”   
  
“Right.” Marinette bit on her lower lip, then leaned forward to hug her only child. “I’ll text you before take off and call after we arrived. Please keep in contact with us, we love you.”

The younger girl smiled and she could feel her father brushing some of her dark hair away while rubbing her shoulder. “Stay out of trouble, Spots.”

“No promises.” 

The three of them shared another quick look before Adrien lifted his phone. “Our taxi is waiting.”

“Yes, of course.” Both of her parents took their bags and they waved a last time while leaving the apartment.

Emma smiled to herself as she flopped down on the sofa and turned the TV on.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!  
> A quick disclaimer: While Hooked Up was quite fluffy, Settle Down seemed to become quite angsty. I'll try to keep it light.
> 
> Also, assuming that Marinette and Adrien were born in the year 2000, what comes quite close to the original air date of Miraculous and their canon age, the story now plays in the year 2034. I took inspiration from the game "Detroit: Become Human" since it plays in 2038 for the technical development. There are small robots and most people don't carry money or other identification cards around with them anymore since everything kind of works with fingerprint scanning.
> 
> Some familiar characters will return in future chapters ^^
> 
> Have a nice week!
> 
> *the chapter hasn't been edited yet

There was a big meadow. Flowers with all kind of colours bloomed and in the middle of it, all was a big dead tree. Emma narrowed her eyes and she tried to walk towards the tree but her feet didn’t move. The white dress she was wearing was torn and dirty on the bottom part and she rolled her shoulders. This was weird. This whole place was weird. She never saw something like this before.

Suddenly the wind picked up, clouds formed out of nowhere and a lightning hit the tree, setting it aflame almost immediately. She could feel her pulse pick up and the whole scene seemed oddly familiar, almost like a deja vu moment.

“Watch it burn.” a voice called and as another lightning hit the tree, a figure appeared. It only lasted for a second but his face was burned into her head, piercing green eyes and an evil smirk was directed at her and only her as he came closer -.

 

“Emma?” She snapped her eyes open, cold sweat running from her forehead as she came face to face with another person. “Good morning.” Deep chuckle filled the room as Emma sat up and looked around her bedroom and then she glared daggers at her best friend, who fell on her floor because of his laughter.

“You scared the hell out of me, Thommy.” she mumbled and kicked the boy with her foot in the shoulder, “It wasn’t a good idea to give you the keys to my house.”

“Bruh, you love me.”

“Urg.” Emma brushed her dark hair out of her face by tying it back in a ponytail. Thommy was her best friend ever since… diapers. Their parents met at a birth preparation course and they even went to the same class before Emma skipped her second grade. “What are you even doing here? We wanted to meet up at the studio!”

The boy shrugged. “I thought we could have breakfast here? I could show you the dance I’ve been thinking about teaching our group this year.”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever. You know your way around so please start the coffee machine and I’ll be out here in a minute.” With that, she pushed her childhood friend out of the room and sighed.

It all had started with a friend of Thommy’s mother who owned a small dance studio and the first time Emma stepped into it, she knew she wanted to be a dancer. She was extremely flexible and balanced what were traits definitely needed for modern dance. Her parents were skeptical at first but soon accepted her new found passion. Now, eleven years later, she and Thommy had been a part of the studio long enough to gain some special treatments like the front door keys and a holiday course they were leading, also earning a bit of money on the side.

Emma switched her sleepwear to actual clothes and entered the living room area. Her cat, Wendy, sat silently in the doorway to the kitchen and intensely watched Thommy stretching. He stopped as soon as he took notice of his friend and presented her with the catchy kpop song he found.

“The choreo looks easy enough for them to learn in two weeks.” Emma approved and then raised an eyebrow. “You have been really into kpop lately.”

“Yep. And I am one hundred percent sure you’d be able to become an idol too if you would apply for a Korean company. Your dancing is already on point and your singing should be well enough too.” he said and tapped his fingers against the kitchen counter while Emma pulled a cup out of the kitchen cabin.

“I can’t speak Korean but alright…”

Thommy lay his head on the counter. “I bet you can learn it in under a year. I mean, you already speak Chinese.” - “That’s because my grandparents and father speak it too.” - “And English.” - “It’s a global language.” - “You literally taught yourself Spanish in six months. How do you do it?”

She shrugged. “It’s just the way my brain works, I guess. Learning new things never been hard for me.”

Her friend hummed and Emma narrowed her eyes at the dazed look he was giving her. 

 

* * *

 

“Several hurricanes appeared last night in the United States. One of them is currently moving from southern California towards Mexico.” the reporter on the TV screen cleared his throat. “At the same time, strong earthquakes destroy cities at the coast of South Africa. A dead whale had been found close to the harbor of Sydney, Australia-”

Adrien turned the TV off and rubbed his eyes. Listening to the news during his first day of vacation wasn’t really a mood lifter. Marinette stepped out of the bathroom, dressed in just her towel and her hair was still dripping wet.

“Any important news?” she asked while looking for her underwear in their closet.

“Storms and other natural disasters. Seems like climate change is really hitting us right now.”

“I meant news from our daughter back in Paris, but okay.” She dropped her towel after dressing in a big shirt and shorts, sitting down next to her husband. “She didn’t answer my text yet but maybe that’s because of the time difference.”

“She is sixteen-years-old and you still need to check every step she takes.” Adrien reminded her and Marinette clicked her tongue against her teeth. “Old habits are hard to break, right?” He gave her a soft smile and wrapped his arms around her from behind, leaning them both against the head of the bed. Marinette played with his fingers, rubbed the two different rings around Adrien’s ring fingers and sighed.

“You know, we are in a kind of age where everyone makes big life decisions. Alya and Nino have a baby, Chloé and Nath want to start a business together and talk about buying a house… it just feels like we’re missing out on something like… we already have a child and blooming careers and we’ve been living together for so long that marriage wasn’t really a big step either.” she started and felt her husband nuzzle his nose in her neck.

“So what?” he asked, “You want me to buy you a fancy sports car?”

Marinette rammed her elbow softly in Adrien’s stomach. “I am not in a midlife crisis, Chaton.” They chuckled silently and Adrien intertwined their fingers over Marinette’s stomach.

“There is one more thing in the making, remember? So don’t make any rash decisions, my Lady. Adds one more thing to tell Emma about, though.”

The dark haired woman hummed.”I don’t know. To be honest, I am scared because… because of Emma and her powers...”

“Which have not shown up yet. Maybe they never will, we can’t be sure.” Adrien pressed a kiss to the back of her head. “You are worrying too much.”

“I do not worry too much!” Marinette huffed, “I just want to be prepared and we have been living in uncertainty for sixteen years. We can’t give up our miraculous until things are completely certain.”

Adrien just nodded and buried his nose deeper into his wife’s black hair.

 

* * *

 

“This was a productive day.” Thommy started when the two teenagers left the dance studio. The sky was already dark, storm clouds making their way over the city of Paris. “We should hurry, it’s probably going to rain soon.”

Emma hummed as she moved out of the way of a delivery robot. Those small things were terrible tripping opportunities for people with long legs. “The course starts Monday, right? We should be able to have the dance finished by then.”

“I think so too. By the way, did you hear Angelica talking about arranging an event for the end of the holidays? All different groups can show what they learned during those two weeks.” They both hurried inside the subway station, quickly pressing their fingers against the scanner to identify their tickets. 

“Sounds actually like a fun idea. Plus it may help to motivate the kids to not just sit around with their phones.” Emma agreed as they mixed themselves between the other waiting people on the platform. She pulled her own phone out and frowned at the several messages from her mother who had spammed the girl with pictures. “Maman is cramping my storage again.”

Thommy snorted. “That’s nice. At least you guys stay in contact. My father barely talks to my stepsister.”

“It’s annoying sometimes. “ said Emma and straightened her back, “Like, sometimes it’s really cool to have young parents since they are not boring but on the other hand, they are really clingy. I’m not a baby anymore.”

“I don’t know, I like your quirky and hip parents. Plus your father is really funny.”

“Now that you said that, we can’t be friends anymore, Thomas Bonnet.”

“Well, good luck finding someone else to stand your smart ass, Emelia Adele Agreste.” They stared at each other, then broke into light chuckles. Emma leaned herself against her friend while holding her stomach. A voice announced the arrival of their subway.

Emma and Thommy entered the train, still laughing a bit. She leaned against a pole, turned around it and suddenly froze. The window of the doors offered a sight on the empty platform across from them. A man wearing a black hoodie narrowed his vibrant green eyes at her. The time seemed to slow down for her as a hot feeling started to boil in her body. Her head became dizzier by every second passing that she kept eye contact with the stranger.

“Emma?” Thommy asked and bumped her shoulder, making her snap her head up at him, “Are you alright?”

“Fine…” she answered and was about to look back to the man but the train had already started to move.

 

* * *

 

“Stop being paranoid, Emelia,” she told herself while shutting the curtains in the living room. A thunderstorm was raging outside, the rain hitting against the windows. Emma wasn’t scared of thunder but she still had a weird feeling ever since entering the subway.

Wendy jumped on the coffee table, sending Emma’s phone flying from a book on the glass surface and seconds later a loud vibrating sound rung through the flat. The young girl had pressed her hand over her rapidly beating heart, having been scared by the loud noise.

“I swear I just had a heart attack.” she whispered, waddling to the object and answering the video chat, “Hello, Maman.”

Her mother’s face appeared on the screen as she smiled brightly. “Emmy, hi! How have you been? We really miss you.” In the background sat her father with a book in his hands and his typical thick-rimmed black glasses. He waved at the camera.

“I’ve been fine, really. Just spent the whole day in the studio with Thommy. But what about you?” The girl leaned back against the cushions of the sofa with a soft sight. “How was your first day of vacation?”

“Well, actually we arrived here yesterday in the late afternoon so we couldn’t do much yet but we just came back from having breakfast so the day is still young. It’s really sad that you’re not here with us. They have a big beach area and offer many water sports activities.” Marinette said and moved a bit closer to her husband as he lost interest in his book.

“Sorry, Maybe next time?”

“Oh, yeah. Your mother and I were thinking about going on a big family vacation next year. After aunty Alya and uncle Nino have their baby of course. It could be fun, the last time we did that you were seven.” Adrien suggested while taking the phone from his wife’s hand to get them both in the picture.

Emma rolled her shoulders and nodded approvingly. Then she scrunched her nose. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course you can, Emmy.” Marinette said, “What is it?”

“Uhm…” the young girl tapped her fingernails against the glass surface of the coffee table while biting on her lower lip. “I used to have nightmares as a toddler, right? Do you know what I have been dreaming about back then?”

Suddenly, her mother seemed to freeze and she shared a worried glance with her father. “No… you never remembered them so we don’t know what they were about. Did you have one again?”

Nightmares were quite a topic in the Agreste family, especially since Emma had, apparently, been hunted by them as a small child until she was nearly six-years-old. She didn’t remember those times but she heard stories of her parents being extremely exhausted in school because their child could barely sleep at night.

It all had ended a few months before her birthday. Somehow she had got a pretty bad fever, lay in bed for multiple weeks and could barely keep her food or drinks in. But after that, there had been no more nightmares.

Emma shrugged. “I don’t know. It wasn’t really a nightmare more like a really weird dream. It’s probably nothing huge.”

Her parents still didn’t look too sure as they still were quite tense. Marinette cleared her throat. “If they happen to get worse, we have an old friend who might be able to help you. I can send his address to you.”

“It’ll be fine, Maman.” rolling her eyes, Emma faked a yawn, “Wow, it’s getting really late. I should go to bed now.”

“Emelia.” Adrien warned, his voice stern as he narrowed his eyes, “You’re going to keep us updated.”

“Sure thing, Pops. Good night, love you!” Emma ended the call before anyone could properly respond and she huffed. “Why are parents always so concerned?” she asked herself while patting Wendy. She was almost a completely black cat, the only white parts in her fur where the paws.

Another lightning stroke outside and a shiver ran down Emma’s spine.

 

* * *

 

The next few days were strange, to say the least. Emma didn’t have another nightmare but she definitely felt being watched. The strange man with his green eyes appeared in her vision more times than she liked. It was slowly creeping her out. Whoever this guy was, he was always close behind her.

Thommy frowned at his best friend as she stood at the counter of a coffee shop, focusing something outside. “You have been acting strange lately,” he noted.

“I did?” she asked mindlessly. The man wore a black hoodie, had an olive coloured skin and black hair, his green eyes could be seen from far away. While he was obviously spying on her, Emma also had the great opportunity to spy on him. The stranger was not bothered by the fact that she noticed him.

“You most certainly did,” Thommy said and sipped on his coffee. He suddenly froze and lifted the black leather jacket he was wearing over his face. “Red dragon on nine.”

Emma tore her eyes from the man outside to her left to see a red-haired girl enter the coffee shop. She rolled her eyes. “Isn’t that the girl who has been asking you out over social media for months now?”

“That’s her.” He peaked on brown eye open to look at the girl, “It doesn’t matter how often I tell her that I am not interested but she just keeps on sending me DMs.”

“Unbelievable,” Emma muttered and shook her head. “You want me to kick her ass?”

“She might think you’re my girlfriend.”

“Well that might be better than her-” She was interrupted by a strong headache. It was burning in the back of her head and her vision became blurry, the smell of smoke lingering in her nose. “Is something burning?”

Thommy lost the amused little smile on his face and frowned. And then suddenly times seemed to freeze. Emma gasped and looked around herself. Everyone stood still, the world coming to a silent still standing. 

“Time is a funny concept, Emelia.” Someone called and she whipped her head around to see the green-eyed man stand in the middle of it all. He scrunched his nose as he came to stand next to a small child with his mother’s phone in his hands. “Is that how parents keep their children occupied in the future? This is truly a sad place.”

“Who are you?” Emma asked now truly uncertain of the situation.

The man shrugged. “My name doesn’t matter but if you really want to know.” He bowed, a Cheshire grin on his lips, “Johwa to your service, Mademoiselle.”

The name rang a bell in her mind, it definitely was familiar but she couldn’t remember where she heard it before.

“You have been stalking me,” said Emma as she moved backwards, closer to the table she shared with Thommy, touching over to surface for anything that could be useful.

“I did, didn’t I?” Johwa mused as he came closer, every step looking like a lion who walking towards his victim. “You see, Emelia, you and I are special. But the tricky thing is, that we can’t exist together. Your pure being stops me from archiving my goal so I have to get rid of you. And since my first attempt didn’t work…”

Emma frowned, finally grabbing a wooden stirrer and holding it tightly in her hand. “What 'first' attempt?”

“Oh you were lucky to have the Ladybug and Black Cat around or your sickness would have caused a pretty painful death. You don’t know how hard it was to build up our connection enough to get so close to you.” Johwa jumped directly in front of her and lifted his hand to Emma’s head. His thumb connected with her forehead and suddenly Emma’s vision became white, then black and then orange-red.

She saw a fire, a burning man, and screaming people. In the middle of it all a boy her age, hiding behind a woman with short brunette hair and her earrings glistened in the bright light of the fire.

It was a deja-vu feeling like she had seen this scene multiple times before and as realization struck her, Emma came to the decision she might have.

Emma gasped as her eyes snapped open, finding herself in an abandoned building instead of the coffee shop. Johwa stood in front of her, his eyes the only thing visible in the darkness of the room.

“Humans can be terrible. Burning their own kind for using magic. Just imagine if they find out what power we possess.”

His movement was so fast that she could barely blink. A blade stroke her cheek. It had hit her, the pain coming shortly after the shock but as she touched the wound, there was no blood.

“What the…” She whispered and stared at her fingers, black sand covering them.

“Creation and destruction, life and death. While destroying your enemy, you heal yourself. As long as it doesn’t affect your heart, you are immortal.” Johwa turned around, quickly throwing another blade but this time, Emma had collected her thoughts and her reflexes were as fast as light.

She had lifted her hand, the stirring spoon transforming into a shield like object. “Don’t panic, Emelia, don’t panic,” she whispered to herself, grabbing to blade which has barely missed her head and it crumbled the pieces in her hands. “This is a dream, it has to be.”

The next thing she touched was a door handle, the object also disappearing in smoke and Emma sprinted out. Johwa was on her heels in seconds and jumped against the opposite wall of the hallway, destroying a painting. It looked like he could create new weapons by the pure movement of his hand.

“I don’t know what I am doing or what you want from me!” Emma called and lifted a hand over her protection. An arrow appeared out of thin air and shot into Johwa’s direction, missing him by mere centimeters. 

The man hissed angrily, ready to sprint forward with a black glowing hand as the door behind Emma opened. A hand gripped her and someone called words, making Johwa run in front of some invisible force field and the next thing Emma saw was a small Chinese man, closing the door directly into his face.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!
> 
> To be completely honest, I feel kind of unsure about this chapter since there are a lot of new information. It is probably confusing (I started my holidays with a flue and sunburn so it's quite hard to think while writing)  
> But yeah, I am out of school now so there might be more updates from now on!
> 
> Have a nice week! :)
> 
> *the chapter is not edited yet

Tikki snapped her eyes open by the strange feeling of a sudden movement. It felt like someone was bumping into her but at the same time, she still lay on top of the small dresser in her chosen’s hotel room.

“Plagg?” she whispered and turned to her black counterpart. “Plagg, did you feel that?”

“Shh.” the kwami hissed and buried his head deeper into his tail.

Tikki rolled her eyes and flew up. Her senses were tingling, there was definitely something off. As one of the primary spirits to appear during the creation of the universe, the kwami of good luck was able to feel even the smallest disturbances.

“Plagg,” Tikki called again and this time it made him peak one green eye open. It was to only attention that he would give her now. “Our universe is out of balance.” 

She closed her eyes and concentrated on the energy her antennas was absorbing. She felt it shift back and forth, slowly.

“Our kids are asleep.” Plagg commented and nodded towards Marinette and Adrien, curled together on the bed, “There is no one else who could possibly use our powers. Maybe you are mixing up things again.”

“Maybe.” the red kwami said cautiously before settling down on the dresser again.   
  


* * *

 

 

All of this made zero sense. That’s what Emma decided after laying on the floor of a massage parlor. The old man, he introduced himself as Fu, told her to lay down and relax for a while. He gave her a cup of tea and whatever it contained, it was good enough to slow down the girl’s rapidly beating heart.

Her phone was buzzing in the back pocket of her jeans, but Emma couldn’t bring herself to check the several messages. The man was talking to a woman in another room in Chinese but they used such an old accent that she could just make out pieces. 

Whatever had happened between the weird attack at the coffee shop and right now had to be a dream.

“How are you feeling, Emelia?” Fu asked as he approached her carefully. He stroke through his beard while watching her get up.

“Alright, I guess?” Emma answered and rubbed her neck, “How do you know my name?”

“I am an old friend of your parents. We both just haven’t met in a long time.” He smiled encouragingly and then gestured to his right. “I hope you don’t mind speaking Chinese for a bit but my friend Hoa is just starting to learn the French language.”

A woman entered the room. She had kind brown eyes and floor-length grey hair. The only strange thing about her was the leave green snake around her neck. “Salute?” Hao waved a bit unsure.

Fu smiled, then turned to Emma. “You might have some questions-”

“Oh boy, I have a shit ton of questions.” Emma interrupted the man and brushed her dark brown bangs out of her face. “This guy out there? He stopped time and then he wooshed me into this building here, like, how? And the doors! The doors were turning to black smoke! Where are we? Some kind of hidden camera shit?”

“Wait.” Hao said and pointed at Emma, “Does she know?”

Fu sighed. “We decided that it would be better if she stays away from the miraculous since Johwa grew up with them.”

“Holy spirits, you didn’t even tell her.” The old woman quickly moved next to Emma and took her into a tight hug, patting her hair gently, “The poor girl.”

“It was the best decision we were able to make just a bit over fifteen years ago. We couldn’t know that Johwa would break into our universe.” Fu tried to explain but Hao was still punishing him with her cold stare.

“So… you know who this guy is?” Emma asked while trying to move away from Hao. She now sat across from both elders.

Fu and Hao shared a quick glance, then nodded. “His name is Johwa and we kind of made a big mistake but for you to be able to understand everything, you need to hear the full story.” the man explained.

“Okay?” Emma shifted in her seat and waited for someone to continue the conversation. Hao nodded towards her friend and Fu sighed.

“I am a guardian, to be more specific, the guardian of the miraculous. I chose who will get one and who doesn’t.”

Emma frowned. “Miraculous? Isn’t that the thing that Ladybug and Chat Noir wear? And what this Hawk Moth guy wanted?”

“Exactly.” Fu nodded. “I lost the butterfly miraculous on my way here and when it got activated again I had to choose someone to protect the city. Your parents were the perfect fit so they became the local heroes Ladybug and Chat Noir.”

A high laugh filled the room as Emma couldn’t control her reaction properly. Her eyes were scrunched together as she brought up her hand in front of her mouth. “My parents?” she snorted, “Ladybug and Chat Noir? Sorry, but I can’t imagine that.” No one in the room spoke a word until Emma immediately froze. “Oh my god, you’re not joking, are you?”

Hao leaned forward and gently took the young girl’s hands. “Johwa was born centuries ago but the thing that connects you is your strong bond to the miraculous since you both have the two strongest miraculous holders as parents. I know that is a lot to take in and it’s probably not easy to understand either but we are here to help you.”

“But I don’t get it… What has this whole thing to do with me?” Emma asked and her eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

Fu sighed. “The Ladybug and Black Cat need a strong bond with the wielders of their powers since the chosen have to have the right psyche for it. In miraculous language the psyche is an energy deep inside of you and since your parents have such strong… energies they are connected to the kwamis, which are bundled spirits of the primary forces, very strongly. And when you were born we assumed that you might have inherited the powers of the two miraculous but we couldn’t be sure since a child of balance had only happened once before. Johwa also had a Ladybug and Chat Noir as his parents.”

“Let’s just say that we do not know much.” Hao quickly added. “There is no book to guide us, just the legend of a young boy who held the powers of the universe. While we tried to solve some riddles, we accidentally opened a portal which helped Johwa to come here in our current time. But your powers are untrained and out of balance, We need to fix this or this world is in critical danger.”

“It already is.” a new voice said and a little green turtle flew up into the air. “The earthquakes, hurricanes and storms are foreshadowings for a big disaster.” A faint memory sparked in the back of Emma’s mind by the sight of the flying animal, a blurry picture of white light playing in front of her eyes.

The young girl groaned and pressed the palm of her hands against her eyes in frustration as she tried to understand the whole situation. There were still so many unanswered questions and loose ends to knot that she could barely think straight. Normally, her brain never had problems working threw new information.

Feeling Emma’s frustration and helplessness with the topic, Hao leaned forward to gently touch the girl’s shoulder in a comforting gesture. “I am sorry to say that but you need to stay here. I don’t know how long my force field can protect us from Johwa’s anger but it’s not safe for you to go out right now. Besides, you need to learn how to balance your powers.”

“But I can’t stay!” Emma complained, “I have a cat at home who needs to be fed and a job where people expect me to turn up at. My freaking grandparents texted me this morning to pick up a package for my mother.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Fu said calmly, closing his eyes. “Listen to us and you will understand.”   
  


* * *

 

 

“Isn’t it a romantic night, my Lady?” Adrien asked and Marinette giggled, bringer her glass to his for a toast. “You, me, the night sky… Ah, that wakes some good memories.”

“Sadly we’re sitting on a balcony of our fancy hotel bungalow with an epic view over the beach and not on the top of the Eiffel Tower.”

The blonde hummed in agreement as he gazed to the black ocean, the wind tossing his hair from one side to another. It had been a nice day, warmth and a lot of sun until the wind picked up drastically in the late afternoon, making the waves become higher and stronger. They had decided to go shopping and visited some museums too over the midday hours.

“Maman and Papa finally made the package with Emma’s old baby stuff ready.” Marinette whispered while checking her messages, “Oh and Alya sent me a new ultrasound picture. Their little one totally has Al's mouth.”

Adrien chuckled. “You think Alya is still mad that she will never be able to play matchmaker for our children?”

“Totally, but never say never, right?” They both glanced at each other from across the balcony, sitting in two chairs and the only light coming from the small bedside table lamp from behind the glass door to the room. He blew some air out of his lungs and brushed his shortened hair back, then folded his hands over his stomach.

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, just enjoying the quiet time together. Then suddenly, a bright red streak appeared on the night sky.

Marinette furrowed her eyebrows and stood up. “What is this?”

A second streak, parallel to the first, now much fainter one, formed. A third and forth making its way across the sky only seconds later.

“Shooting stars?” Adrien suggested. Some people were now gathering on balconies all around the hotel, gazes focused to the sky by the weird spectacle.

Marinette shook her head. “Shooting stars aren’t that red, right? And they disappear much faster.”

“Mh…” Adrien hummed and then gently grabbed his wife’s shoulders to lead her into the hotel room. “We better get inside Honey. It’s been a long night.”

 

* * *

 

Her head was hurting from all the weird new information. Fu and Hao told Emma many things over the past few hours, some of them didn’t even make sense or contradict themselves. It all felt like a bad movie.

“The miraculous are able to archive the ultimate power.” Fu read from one of his books and Emma groaned loudly.

“And what is this supposed to mean again?” the young girl asked from her position on the floor, blowing a lost strand of hair out of her face.

“It is, like the name already states it, the ultimate power of the universe. Its wielder is able to skip through time and space, bring the dead back to life, destroy planets… basically, it grants you whatever wish you desire to be fulfilled. But it has limits. Everything you wish for will have a consequence.” Fu continued to explain, not looking up from his book, “It is an exhausting process and often normal miraculous holders can’t archive the power for long.”

“For you it’s different. “ Hao said from her position across the room, “You were born with the power inside of you so there are no rules. The consequences normally balance the ultimate power out but the problem is that it doesn’t work like this for you.”

“There are a lot of problems,” remarked Emma and folded her arms over her chest. She quirked an eyebrow.

Fu nodded tiredly. “We know but since you are one of only two Ladybug and Black Cat children it is quite an unclear situation too. There is no information, we learn with you.” The old man sat down and brushed in beard in deep concentration. It felt like they were going in circles with their conversation.

Emma rolled her shoulders, deciding to find another topic. “So what does Johwa want from me?”

“To be completely honest with you it’s hard to tell.” Hao answered, gently letting the leave green snake wander from her neck to her arm, “Assuming from what we know he wants to get revenge for people burning the previous guardian alive for using magic. He is angry at the humans who don’t believe in magic and since he is kind of immortal…”

“... there is a chance of him wanting to play god. Maybe he wants to rebuild our world.”

Emelia huffed in disbelieve. “So we know like… nothing. Cool, really. An idiot who is able to form blades out of thin air attacked me without a reason-”

“There is a reason.” Wayzz, that’s what the small flying turtle introduced himself as, spoke up. “You both are in one universe and he isn’t able to use his maximal powers since you both are too unbalanced. So either he gets you on his side, or he destroys you.”

“You know, it is not really motivating to know that during your whole lives someone tried to kill you.” Emma mumbled, “Heck, apparently this guy infected me with a flue when I was five after hunting me down to exhaustion with nightmares of burning people. And my parents didn’t even have the freaking decency to tell me about my “powers”!”

“He has been sending you nightmares?” Hao asked with narrowed eyes as Emma huffed in agreement. Fu and she shared worried glances.

The old man stood again and walked to another opened book, reading through some pages. “Firstly, your parents just wanted the best for you and tried to protect you. In the end, it was our mistake to lead Johwa here. Secondly, “ Fu turned around to Emma, “We need to start to focus on training your powers.”


	4. Chapter 4

There has been no sight of Johwa in three days.

Three long days since he attacked Emma at the coffee shop and it was more than disturbing. She couldn’t believe it only had been a week since her parents went away for their honeymoon and the weird guy names Johwa came into her life.

Fu and Hao had been quite strict with the young girl, training and meditating as much as possible. Emma felt exhausted and needed to get out of the massage parlor. When she voiced that need to her two mentors they were concerned and repeated that it wasn’t safe. So when they left the house for whatever reason, Emma used her chance to slip out of the house and found herself in the middle of Chinatown.

“Okay, Emma, be inconspicuous,” she whispered to herself and pulled out black sunglasses. She rolled her shoulders and mixed herself in between tourists. The day was sunny and warm, perfect weather for people to go out on the street so Emma hoped that Johwa wouldn’t be able to notice her too easily.

Emma liked to play with her newfound powers. She knew it was dangerous but the world wouldn’t fall apart just because she magically created herself a charger for her phone. It had died shortly after she arrived at Fu’s and she was relieved to see the battery sign turn green as soon as she plugged into a charging station at a bus stop.

 

> >>Emma?<<
> 
> >>Are you alright?<<
> 
> >>You disappeared suddenly<<
> 
> >>I’m worried<<

 

She sighed as she left the bus in front of her apartment building, ignoring the messages from her parents but instead shot Thommy a quick answer saying that she was fine and sorry for not showing up at work. Mindlessly, Emma wandered up the stairs to her front door, looking down at her phone screen and the storm forecast for Paris. She pushed the door to the apartment open and walked inside, not taking her eyes off the screen until someone cleared their throat loudly.

Emma jumped, turned around and came face to face with no other person than her grandfather Gabriel, sitting in an armchair in the middle of the living room. He quirked an eyebrow at the sight of his granddaughter.

“Emelia, what a coincidence.” Gabriel said as he stood up and towered over Emma, “Do you mind to explain yourself? Where have you been?”

“Uh…” She hadn’t been prepared for this. Actually, Emma hadn’t even thought about seeing any member of her family any time soon but it seemed like fate wasn’t on her side that day. “Grandpa! Hey, what are you doing here?” Emma asked and waved awkwardly.

Gabriel just narrowed his eyes, obviously trying to read his son’s kid. “Your parents asked me to check on you. You were supposed to pick up a package from the bakery, didn’t do it and since Tom and Sabine were busy they asked me to come here. The receptionist said that no one of your family went in and out of the building for the past days plus there were some… noises from your cat.”

“Noises? She did noises?” Emma asked, voice too high to not be suspicious as Wendy curled around her owner’s legs with a content purr.

“Yes.” Gabriel stated, “It appeared to your neighbours that she was left alone for some days. Where have you been?”

They both stood across from another and silence filled the space. Emma’s hands were twitching to rub her neck but she knew the move would immediately give her away.  Gabriel stared at her with infinite patience, knowing that usually, one look from him was enough to make people nervous. But his granddaughter wasn’t like normal people.

“I was at my friend’s. Thommy and I had a sleepover and I forgot my phone charger so that is probably why no one was able to reach me. Sorry for making you worry.” she easily lied and while Emma could see that Gabriel didn’t fully believe her, he didn’t comment on it further.

The tall man leaned back and pinched his glasses in a new position. “You should contact your parents. They were really worried when they couldn’t reach you. Make sure to not forget your…  _ charger  _ again.” Gabriel nodded. He then awkwardly pushed something over the glass surface of the coffee table. “I wanted to give you this. It had been one of your grandmothers favourite bracelets to wear.” 

Emma raised her eyebrows as she slowly reached for the black and red box on the table, opening it unsurely. On a black velvet underground lay a silver bracelet and it held a circular charm that looked like a yin and yang. The black side of the symbol overweighting the white one.

“It’s made of white jade and black onyx, very precious materials.” Gabriel added while keeping an unmoving expression. “It is special and since I am not interested in using it myself I thought giving it to you would be a good idea.”

“Oh,” Emma stated dumbly as she watched the gemstones act almost like water, waving from side to side as she shifted the box. “It was my grandmothers?”

Gabriel stood. “She inherited it from her grandmother so I guess the bracelet has been in her family for many generations. Take good care of it.” He patted her on the back and left the apartment. Outside, a dark rumble filled the sky and the black yin side slowing became bigger and bigger.

 

* * *

 

Marinette sat next to the swimming pool, legs crossed and head laying in the palm of her hand as she watched her husband swim. Of course, he had always been incredibly handsome but seeing his back muscles work with every movement made her turn back into the swooning fourteen-year-old school girl.

“Enjoy the view?” Adrien asked as he leaned his elbows on the edge of the pool, shaking his wet blonde hair out of his eyes as he smirked up at her.

“I won’t deny that for sure.”  They grinned at each other for a few moments. Adrien pushed himself out of the water and settled down next to his wife, taking the towel out of her lap to dry his face. 

Marinette sighed. “Gabriel said that he met Emma but she still didn’t answer any texts from me. Did we do anything wrong? Were we too protective when she mentioned her nightmares?”

“Marinette,” Adrien whispered as she lay her head on his still wet shoulder and he hushed a look down at her phone and the opened chat. They haven’t heard from their daughter for three days. 

“I am calm. Don’t tell me to stay calm.” the woman warned and lifted her hands in defend the same moment a new message arrived from Alya. “Huh? There is a storm approaching Europe?” Marinette opened the link which revealed a freshly recorded video.

_ “After multiple nature catastrophes in the past weeks all around the globe, a new mega storm formed over the Atlantic Ocean. It is slowly moving towards the Portuguese coast but even more than four hours away from Lisbon, the storm is already causing big devastation all around south-west Europe. Madrid and London are about to close their airports, Germany, Italy, and France think about similar actions. The authorities demand people to find shelters. Strong lightning, wind, and rain are expected and there is a high possibility for tornados too. Citizens of Europe, prepare for the worst.” _

Marinette and Adrien blinked down at the phone, not wanting to believe what they just heard. The video had been posted about an hour ago and a second link provided life news from a Swedish tv channel.

_ “Mega storm Emma hits Europe. Lights out in the UK and Spain. Rome is drowning. Borders are closed. European Union gives control to a national level-” _

Suddenly, Marinette choked and she dropped her phone as it clattered across the floor. Her hand came up to her mouth in complete shock. “My baby. My baby is there. Emma… I… have to get to her, I have to get to Paris… I…”

The only thing Adrien could do was to hug his wife. He didn’t know what to think, his brain was completely empty. They rocked back and forth, crying and their Kwamis flew up to comfort their chooses. For some reason they knew that the storm’s name had a much deeper meaning.

 

* * *

 

Emma decided to make her way back to the massage parlor before anyone could notice that she had been gone for too long. She didn’t know where Fu and Hao had gone but she needed to be back before them.

The weather had changed drastically, the wind stronger than earlier that day and dark clouds formed over the sky. Some people were still on the street but Paris was really empty in comparison to its usual busy streets. Where did all the people go?

A hand grabbed her shoulder and Emma nearly jumped at the touch, turning around and ready to use whatever in her defense.

“Emma. Oh god, I am so glad that you are fine! Where the hell have you been, what are you doing out here?” Worried brown eyes met green ones as Thommy stared down at his childhood friend, holding her shoulder like his life depended on it. “You’ve been just gone back on Thursday at the coffee shop and I was so worried.”

She looked down at his hand which had moved down to her own and then back up to his eyes. “You… you were looking for me?”

The boy smiled sheepishly. “I mean it really was a coincidence that we ran into each other right now but yes, of course, I wanted to know where you went. But it doesn’t matter right now! What are you even doing on the streets? Come with me.”

Thommy gently tucked Emma after him as he started to walk off in the complete opposite direction of the massage parlor. One single raindrop hit her on the nose and Emma shook her head.

“Where are we going?”

“Didn’t you hear the news about the mega storm?” he asked and Emma shrugged her shoulders. She did read something about a storm but why was Thommy acting so strange? “Seriously, where have you been the past days? There is this massive storm hitting Europe right now and it’s supposed to be one of the strongest weather catastrophes since… ever, I guess. We need to find shelter, I won’t let you go by yourself.”

Emma rammed the back of her feet into the street as she brought them both to a halt. Everything was going so fast. “I need to contact my parents.”

“You can do that when we’re safe, now come on.”

“Thommy…” And then there was a strike of lightning and Emma lifted her head into the air, coming eye to eye with a man on the top of a rooftop. Johwa looked different. His black hoodie had been switched to a similar coloured dress shirt, his hair much shorter than before and if she didn’t knew that he was several centuries old, he would have easily fit into their current time. He smirked at her, lifted his hand and turned his pointer finger in a slow circle. The wind picked up, more raindrops fell and low thunder roared in the distance.

“We need to go.” hurried Thommy but he couldn’t get his childhood friend to move as she stared above him.

Emma was clever, heck, she won various competitions but this couldn’t be possible. Nature didn’t work that way. It was against every rule that someone could control the freaking weather. “I can’t.” she blurted and stepped back. She needed to see Fu and Hao. She needed more answers.

“No!” And then Thommy grabbed Emma’s shoulders, making her freeze in shock. “I am not going to leave you alone. You mean so much to me and I don’t want to lose you. I’ve been in love with you for so long and just… if I mean something to you too please come with me.”

She could see the panic in his eyes but there was too much going on in that one single moment. Emma had to make a decision between following Thommy, getting answers from her two mentors and stopping Johwa’s destruction.

With one more breath, she freed her hand from his. “The mansion, Thommy. Get your family and my grandparents and bring them to the mansion!” she called and then started to run. She could hear her friend calling her but she was focused on getting away from him. Her dark hair was wet and made it hard to see.

The ground rumbled, a big crack opened in the middle of the street and a autonomous car drove right into it. Emma stopped in shock. This was not supposed to happen. She stretched her hand forward, a light appearing and before the car could fall a created rope held it back.

“I see you are finally able to use your powers properly now.” a male voice said and Emma closed her eyes angrily, turning around to face Johwa with a cold glance. He looked almost like an angel, unaffected by the weather.

“What the hell do you want from me.” she demanded to now, her voice loud as she tried to overtone the thunder.

The man smirked and tapped his fingers against his lip. “At first I considered you an enemy, Emelia but now… You could be quite strong. Let me help you discover your full powers.” He folded his hands behind his back as he slowly circled the young girl and then held his hand out to her. “Together we could archive everything. Come with me and-” Johwa got hid in the side and lost his balance.

Emma blinked because… what the hell was happening? And then she saw Thommy standing not far from Johwa, rubbing his shoulder in obvious pain. She wanted to slap him for this dumb move so bad.

Johwa growled as he slowly got up. His hand started to glow black and Emma immediately knew what was about to happen.

“Thommy, leave.” warned Emma but her friend didn’t move.

Instead, he shook his head. “I am not leaving without you-”

“Leave! I don’t need a freaking knight in shining armor right now, especially not you!” She honestly didn’t mean to snap but it was out and couldn’t be reversed. Thommy looked shocked and hurt as he took a step back.

Johwa had managed to fill his destructive power in the meantime and was now charging towards Emma’s childhood friend. She acted on instinct as she focused on activating her own magic.

They connected and fell. There was no ground, a disorientated feeling taking over Emma’s mind as she tried to keep her eyes open. She held Johwa close to not become lost in this weird place of colours she has never seen before and everything went so fast.

Blue filled her vision and seconds later her grip on Johwa loosened, clouds formed around her body and harsh wind made it impossible for Emma to keep her eyes open. The feeling of falling took over and it reminded her of multiple nightmares, a choking sound escaped her lips and then her back connected with something hard, knocking her out of consciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait even though I said that updates would come faster! This story sadly became a poorly planned project. I know where the plot is supposed to go but just... how it'll move forwards is written in the stars. I had a problem with finding a way for Emma to get the bracelet since she was originally supposed to get it from Fu and Hao but I just couldn't figure out a way to make it work with the development of the story. I'm honestly not satisfied with the outcome...
> 
> But bad things aside: I've been thinking about writing at least one short story (one chapter) about how Marinette and Adrien discovered Hawk Moth's identity in the Hooked Up universe. There had been a big time skip between this story and the previous one so there might be some fun little situations in Emma's life we could collect in a drabble series ^^
> 
> Well, everything has been said, I guess! Have a nice day!
> 
> *partly edited chapter

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there! This is the sequel to 'Hooked Up' which, preferable you read before this.  
> There won't be an update schedule, I'll just post whenever a chapter is ready and try to add tags as we go :)  
> I hope you are going to enjoy this story, there will be a lot of headcanon magic stuff so don't shy away and ask if you don't understand anything!
> 
> Have a nice day!
> 
> *Currently on hiatus, work only visible for registered users


End file.
